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Post-Standard, The (Newspaper) - June 15, 2005, Syracuse, New York
The Post-Standard SVBACUSE. N.Y. M CBOt MTTHiSHOWEI Central New York will have a chance to cod off as a cold front i pushes through the area. There is a chance for some showers or a thunderstorm to appear just ahead of the front. Complrtt forecast IK HStt74 7.0 Mrthqirake hits off northern Caff ornia coast .A major earthquake struck about 80 miles off the coast of northern California on Tuesday night, briefly prompting a tsuna- mi warning along the Pacific Coast. The 7.0-magnitude quake struck at about p.m. EOT, southwest of the coastal commu- nity of Crescent City and 300 miles northwest of San Francis- co, according to the U.S. Geo- logical Survey Web site. Witnesses felt buildings shak- ing along the California coast, but there were no immediate re- ports of damage. A tsunami warning was brief- ly in effect from the California- Mexico border north to Vancou- ver Island, British Columbia, but was called off about an hour after the quake hit. Work crews clearing mud and rocks from Northway A mudslide left a stretch of the main highway through the eastern edge of the Adirondacks covered with boulders and rush- ing water Tuesday. NEW YORK, PAGE A-l Seven survive copter crash off Manhattan A helicopter taking six tour- ists on a flight above the Man- hattan skyline crashed into the East River within seconds of its takeoff Tuesday afternoon, leav- ing one of its passengers in a coma and the rest soaking wet but safe, including the pilot, au- thorities said. STORY, PAGE A-4 Port III: No easy fix for the Army National Guard The Army National Guard is overused, poorly equipped and losing manpower, many military experts agree. New requirements and expectations are being heaped on it, but there's little agreement among the Pentagon, Congress and the states over what should be done. STORY, PAGE A-4 4-year-old boy dies after ride on Disney attraction A 4-year-old boy died after a spin on Walt Disney World's "Mission: a spaceship ride so intense that some riders have been taken to the hospital with chest pain. STORY, PAGE A-7 Bomber's blast leaves at least 23 dead in Iraq A suicide bomber stnick out- side a bank as elderly men and women wailed to cash their pen- sion checks Tuesday, killing 23 people and wounding nearly 100. STMY.PAGEA-S Corrections Call Deputy Executive Editor Tim Bunn at 470-2240 to dis- cuss a correction on a news story. Subscription questions? Call 470-NEWS Index OasiM OIY... MoviK........ New York.- ObtuoriK. LKHry _M ...6-1 M _H Sauls----- Sfeds____ ...1-1 Ttdnoloty. AI 1-4 N C-3 ..F-1 THErtRI-SIADOAtt More orttopnvUeMntiMhr sorfcg state tests. Stiff and news service reports Albany The state Educa- tion Department has recom- mended that schools be allowed to cut teacher-training time so teachers will have more time to grade state tests. School districts are provided four "superintendents' confer- ence days" for teacher training in a typical 185-day school year. Those days were established as part of a Board of Regents' ef- fort to improve instruction and raise academic standards. The new proposal would cut those required days to two, al- lowing teachers to spend the other two days grading state exams including new tests for third through eighth grades re- quired by the federal No Child Left Behind Act "This is the beginning of looking at some possible op- said Maria Neira, first vice president of the New York State United Teachers union, which sought the proposal along with some administrators. "We have always advocated for more time for this type of work.'' Not all administrators favor the change. Auburn Superinten- dent John B. Plume acknowl- edged that teachers need more time to grade exams, but he said sacrificing teacher training is a questionable tradeoff. "I find it intriguing they would recommend reducing training designed to improve in- struction and replace it with tests that do not improve he said. Plume said the state school su- perintendents' group has recom- mended a change to a different school year that would offer more opportunities for training and still accommodate the addi- tional testing. Pulaski Superintendent Mar- shall Marshall said he's in accord with the Regents' propos- al if it's a recommendation, not a mandate. "1 don't have a problem if A LONG STROLL WITH A VIEW OF THE FALLS JAY COCHRANE skywalks Tuesday between the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort and the Hilton Hotel, a height up to 650 feet higher than Canada's Niagara Falls behind him. Cochrane will perform skywalks between the hotels daily. On July 1, he plans to skywalk from the Niagara Fallsview to the Skylon Tower, a distance of feet (six football which he says will be the longest skywalk in North American history. Call goes out once more to rescue Randy By Meghan Rubado Staff writer Rescue Randy's had a tough month. He went through a nasty DW1 crash simulation at Jordan-El- bridge High School. He sat wedged in a wrecked minivan on the school's front lawn for weeks. Now (he 165-pound dummy is missing. Rescue Randy, worth was left "trapped" inside a minivan used in a drunken driv- ing crash simulation May 12 at the high school, Elbridge fire Chief Jim English said. School officials had asked that Randy and the minivan be left out front :o keep the DWI lesson fresh. Within the past week, fire- fighters were getting ready to move the display when they no- ticed Rescue Randy was gone. The mannequin probably was taken the last few days of May or the first week of June, said Trooper Ryan Walker, resource officer at Jordan-Elbridge. English and Walker agree that leaving the dummy unattended for so long was not a great idea. "At this point we're consid- ering it a school English said. "Ha ha. Now bring it jack." If the mannequin isn't re- turned voluntarily, the abductors can expect to be charged with larceny, be said. Randy can be dropped off at the Elbridge fire- house on East Main Street. "We'll believe any lie they want to give English said. Call Walker at 952-4949 or the state police Elbridge barracks at 689-3353. Up to 13 firms to supply designers for Center of Excellence Process to start in early July. "Green design" an important selection factor. By Nancy Buczek Staff writer Syracuse University officials plan to unveil today an "all- star" design team for (lie million Syracuse Center of Excellence headquarters. The environmentally friendly building will attract national and international attention and be a jewel of Syracuse architecture, said Ed Bogucz, the center's ex- ecutive director. "This is another significant step forward in advancing the Center of Excellence. There are many steps that we have to lake to achieve our vision of a pio- neering building in Syracuse and one of the crilical steps is who will design Bogucz said. "For us, this is a very significant step forward." The team is made up of repre- sentatives from up to 13 firms, including individuals and groups in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Germany. It will be led by Syra- cuse-based Ashley McGraw Ar- chitects PC. The firm will sub- contract (asks to individuals chosen by a design selection committee that was made up pri- marily of SU officials. and espe- cially Ed McGraw, have a record of leadership in our community in green design, and (hat's some- thing that we very highly valued CENTER, PAGE A-4 Plans hint at summer expansion for mall Contractors for work at Carousel Center asked to have bids ready by July 1. By Rick Moriarty Staff writer Desliny Development l.I.C, a company formed by Robert Con- gel, late last week distributed plans and specifications to po- tential construction contractors for an expansion of the Carousel Center mall and set deadlines of June 30 and July 1 for them to submit bids for the work. "We got them in on Thurs- day, and by Monday morning we had them up on our Web said Earl R. Hall, assistant exec- utive director of the Syracuse Builders Exchange, the oldest re- gional construction industry as- sociation in the state. Destiny executives have not said when construction of the mall expansion would slart, but judging from the deadline for submitting construction bids, it's likely to begin this summer or fall, said Hall. The builders ex- change has more than 900 mem- bers, and more than 150 of them had looked at the mall expansion plans by Tuesday afternoon. Bids are being accepted by llic project's construction manager. Hunt Construction Group Inc., which has set up an office at Carousel Center. Meetings with potential bidders are being held at the mall this week, and com- panies are required to attend (hem to be eligible to bid, Hall said. The company has told the builders exchange that the addi- tion will be 1.3 million square feet. Hall said. Pyramid has sub- mitted plans to the city showing an addition of about square feet of leasable area, a figure that does not include com- mon areas. In addition to the mall addi- tion, the company is accepting THREE-, PAGE A-4 CNY native appalled by book on Hillary Clinton Work Iwtts of festal offdr. Nancy Pietrafesa says author rafted to her. By Erik Kriss Albany bureau Nancy Pietrafesa is getting used to (he fallout from her col- lege friendship with Hillary Rodham Clinton, but she still doesn't like it. A book to be released next week portrays "rumors" of an alleged lesbian affair between Pietrafesa and New York's jun- ior U.S. senator during their Wellesley College days in the late 1960s. "One, it's absolutely untrue, and two, it's a totally irresponsi- ble and hurtful thing to said Pietrafesa, a member of a well-known Central New York What they're saying: Many Democrats are outraged and some Republicans want nothing to do with the book. Meanwhile, fierce partisans tangle over Edward Klein's 'The Truth About Hillary." See the News Tracker blog at family who now lives in Berke- ley, Calif, with her husband of nearly 35 years and (heir three sons. "When something is so un- tme and you're living in such a different manner, it's very hard to take something like this seri- added Pietrafesa, who said she was never interviewed by author Edward Klein. "When your children are questioned and OJNTMIPAGCA4 STRAWBERRIES 21llKM tt-ick'ML CLICK AND CLACK bttftwd NHI-I COMU,
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